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Chicano/a Studies Department at California State University, Northridge
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California State University, Northridge (CSUN) public university in Northridge, California, United States. CSUN has the second-largest student body of California State University system. CSUN was created as Valley satellite campus of Cal State Los Angeles and then later became an independent college in 1958 as San Fernando Valley State College.

Chicano/a Studies Department

The term Chicanos (“Chicano” as “Xicano”) was originally used as a negatively label for the children of Mexican migrants. However, Mexican Americans in the 1960’s took the term “Chicano” and used it as a symbol of self-empowerment and cultural pride. The Chicano movement led to the development of organizations such as The United Mexican American Students (UMAS), which helped protect them against discrimination. However, this new generation of Mexican Americans was deemed unworthy by both sides of the border, as they weren’t “American” in the Americans eyes, yet they weren’t “Mexican” in the Mexicans eyes either.

Mission

The Chicana/o Studies department at CSUN celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2009, and has continued to build upon the work of Ernesto Galarza, (using it as a stepping stone). The department was originally founded to address the immediate needs of Chicano/a students at the university and though it suffered many difficult struggles throughout the years, it has endured. The department has come a long way since the cultural revolutionary renaissance of the 1960-1970s, having to overcome an era of conservative and neoliberal backlash. It has since grown and expanded, focusing more on the development of well-organized critical thinkers who will become future contributors to society. Currently, the Chicano/a department aims to aid individuals in developing their analytical and communication skills. The curriculum is designed to engage students in subject matter that is related to the everyday experiences of Chicanos/as. The department offers courses in every academic field other than math and science. This allows for the department to incorporate a dialectical approach to its courses, applying various worldviews to create a sense of social justice, fairness and equality in their teachings. In regards to these goals set by the department, the department hopes to develop students skills in the areas of critical thinking, substantive research, public speaking, writing, artistic performance, and creative expression, which will in-turn prepare students to be able to be held accountable for their own actions. In the midst of all of the struggles that the department has had to overcome, its staff has insured to show an outstanding display of mentorship and instruction to their students. If one were to visit the department, they would see first hand the murals created by students displayed on the walls while the hall is filled with vibrant sounds of jarocho, guitar, and folklorico dance classes. The Chicano/a department’s graduate and undergraduate programs are excellent for students who are interested in working in the fields of government, teaching, social work, or even nonprofit organizations (community service). Their undergraduate program is also a great transitioning base for those interesting in entering various other graduate professional fields such as history, sociology, psychology, library science, political science, law, urban studies, and many others. In it’s forty-eighth year of service, the Department of Chicano/a Studies continues to work with students from the San Fernando Valley, the greater Los Angeles & Ventura Country areas, as well as students throughout the country and the world. In doing so, it continues to “help form the future.”

History During the late nineteenth-century, agricultural businesses recruited Mexican farm workers and developed segregated schools for their children. The term, “Americanization” was introduced and was the means by which policy makers and educators aimed to assimilate “immigrant” students. These “Mexican Schools” attempted to lower the expectations of these children of immigrants, and prepare them for blue-collar jobs in the agricultural field. Americanization was implemented through these schools by the teaching/learning of “American” ideals.

During the first half of the twentieth century, Mexican Americans fought ruthlessly against this type of segregation. There are many cases documenting the struggle that they went through to gain equality, including Salvatierra v. Independent School District, (Deal Rio, Texas, 1930), Roberto Alvarez vs. The Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District, (Lemon Grove, California, 1931), and Mendez vs. Westminster (Westminster, California, 1947). These cases served as precedent in federal cases, such as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which called for the desegregation of schools at the throughout the country, giving minorities their civil and human rights within education. Unfortunately, these victories took a long time to actually take the effect that they were supposed to, since the federal government only engaged in political correctness and the majority of these rulings implementation was left to the local jurisdictions interpretation of the law. The Chicano/a community endured an intense struggle during the 1960s. While the war in Vietnam intensified, the civil rights movements began to grow & thrive. In 1967, students orchestrated walk outs of schools in East Los Angeles, demanding a fairer curriculum that would adequately prepare all students for society. During this time, San Fernando Valley State College (what would later become CSUN) had a student population of more than twenty thousand, yet the Chicano/a community accounted for less than a quarter of a percent (<50 students). During this time, discontent for schools and their faculty was at an all time high as students and communities felt that their voices weren’t being heard. Chicanos/as were dropping out of schools at an alarming rate as few students were being prepared well enough. In 1968, the minority population of African American and Chicano/a students had increased and these minority students started demanding that the university meet their needs by recruiting more minority faculty and establishing programs to help support and help them succeed. During a demonstration in November of 1968, minority students took over the Administration building of CSUN. This lead to many students being arrested but their actions allowed for a series of demands to be given to the President of the University.

The take over prompted the establishment of the University’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), the Pan-African & the Chicano Studies departments and is considered a turning point for the campus. In the summer of 1969, approximately 100 Chicano/a and 100 African American students were accepted into the archetype of what is known today as the Summer Bridge Program. This program enrolled the students in both a writing course and a culture studies course, giving them credit towards a Bachelor of Arts Degree. The goal of this program was to help prepare its students for their undergraduate studies and enrollment at CSUN in the Fall of 1969. Dr. Rodolfo Acuña was the founding chair of the Chicano/a Studies department and developed a curriculum of forty-five courses. He was a strong proponent of helping students with Human Rights Advocacy through education. Since its creation, the Chicano/a Studies department at CSUN has become one of the largest in the country, with over 60 professors working in the department (28 with tenure) and over 170 sections offered each semester. The department currently offers students the chance to receive a minor, major, double major, and masters.

The recent backlash against the progress of civil rights in the past twenty years or so demands a renewed vigor for human rights. The department of Chicano/a Studies will continues its founding principles of aiding in the development of young minds, by helping prepare them to succeed in the world.

Faculty and Staff

Faculty


 * Christina Ayala-Alcantar, Professor
 * Yreina Cervantez, Professor
 * Martha Escobar, Associate Professor
 * Alicia Ivonne Estrada, Associate Professor
 * Xóchitl M. Flores-Marcial, Assistant Professor
 * Melisa C. Galván, Assistant Professor
 * Peter J. García, Professor
 * Ramón García, Professor
 * Rosemary Gonzalez, Associate Professor
 * Gabriel Gutiérrez, Professor and Department Chair
 * Fermin Herrera, Professor
 * Maria Isabel Herrera, Professor
 * Marta Lopez-Garza, Professor
 * Lara Medina, Professor
 * Theresa Montaño, Professor
 * Renee Moreno, Professor
 * Roberta Orona-Cordova, Professor
 * Mary Pardo, Professor
 * Rosa RiVera-Furumoto, Professor
 * David Rodriguez, Professor
 * Stevie Ruiz, Assistant Professor
 * Ana Sánchez-Muñoz, Professor
 * Denise Sandoval, Professor
 * Francisco Tamayo, Assistant Professor
 * Yarma Velázquez-Vargas, Associate Professor

Lecturers


 * Rodolfo Acuña
 * Josè Alvarez
 * Josè Amaro
 * Guillermo Avileés-Rodriguez
 * Gabriel Buelna
 * Lucia Chavez
 * Nancy Cheeks
 * Richard Corona
 * Jaime Cruz
 * María Elena Cruz
 * Bert María Cueva
 * María Elena Fernandez
 * Antonio Gallo
 * Harry Gamboa
 * Omar Gonzalez
 * Carlos Hernandez
 * Xilomen Herrera
 * Mark Joslin
 * Mario Lopez
 * Nathan Lopez
 * Gerard Meraz
 * Alex Placencio
 * Gerard Resendez
 * Herman Rodruiguez
 * Maythé Ruffino
 * Everto Ruiz
 * George Sanchez
 * Tony Sandoval
 * Jesse Valadez
 * Vilma Villela

Emeriti Faculty


 * Acuña, Rodolfo
 * García, Jorge
 * Hallcom, Francine
 * Hernández, José A.
 * Martí, Oscar
 * Nieto, Eva Margarita
 * Perez-Sandoval, Rafael
 * Resendez, Gerald
 * Ruiz, Everto
 * Ruiz, Raul
 * Sanchez, Marta

Staff


 * Administrative Support Coordinator II: Griselda Corona
 * Administrative Support Coordinator I: Yanira Pineda
 * Administrative Support Assistant I: Yanina Flores

Coordinators


 * Assessment and Liaison Coordinator: Dr. Rosa Furumoto
 * Equity and Diversity Coordinator: Dr. Christina Ayala-Alcantar
 * Graduate Coordinator: Dr. Yarma Velázquez-Vargas
 * Teacher Education Coordinator: Dr. Theresa Montaño
 * Writing Coordinator: Dr. Renee Moreno
 * Speech Coordinator: Dr. Yarma Velázquez-Vargas

Academic Programs

The Chicano/a Studies Department at CSUN offers single and double majors as well as minors. The single major prepares professionals in discipline of Chicano/a Studies through a sequence of 45 units of upper and lower division courses. This options prepares students who wish to continue with social work, teaching or entering graduate programs.

The double major option as well as minor options allow students of other academic fields such as sociology, psychology, political science, law, urban studies, history, social welfare and others to take course of Chicano/a Studies department and earn a degree.

Social Science Subject Matter Program is an undergraduate program that allows 6th-12th graders and B.A. in Chicano/a Studies to learn Social Science and History while adding ethnic content into established state educational program. Students who complete the program are exempt to take the California Subject Exam for Teachers (CSET). The Master's of Arts in Chicana/o Studies creates professionals with advanced knowledge of the Social Sciences, the Humanities, the Arts and Education and other academic disciplines related to the Chicana/o experience in the United States. Students who successfully complete the Master’s of Arts in Chicana/o Studies are well prepared to further their education by earning a Ph.D. Chicana/o Studies, Cultural Studies, Ethnic Studies, American Studies, Public Administration, Political Science, History, Sociology, Psychology, and law school. The program also creates professionals in nonprofit administration, local government, academic counseling and recruitment services, as well as teaching in community colleges and selected universities.